Jeremy's Second Birthday

Look who is two? Yup, Little Man aka Destructo, turned two today. Per the Szymczak custom, Jeremy danced to the Captain Zoom birthday song (the one where your name is mentioned many times). Then it was time to open presents - a word Jeremy has mastered. From Corbin, Jeremy received a set of three Thomas the Engine trains. From Mom and Dad, he received a coffee maker, so he could make his own brand of "double double" coffee. Earlier this week, he received a bean bag chair from Babcia. In the afternoon, we lit the cake and Jeremy blew out the candles with no problems and proceeded to mash icing and cake all over his face (he is quite good at that).

Christmas Is Over

The Christmas portion of the "Holiday Season" is officially over today. Adam and the boys, took his mother and Alex to the train station for their trip back to Brantford. After saying goodbye, the boys headed up to Future Shop and Best Buy to check out some things and to give Tina a break from everyone. During that time, Tina stripped the Christmas Tree of all the decorations and Adam removed the lights and took the tree apart and stored it in the box. Later during the winter season, Tina plans on going through our decorations and tossing those that are old and tired (we have had some decorations for almost a decade). We plan on visiting Bronners in Frankenmuth, Michigan sometime in February to get some ideas and new decorations. Now to clean the house up, put the gifts in the appropriate places and look forward to a quiet New Year celebration with the Karb Family.

Christmas Eve 2005

Christmas Eve went without a hitch. Babcia, Adam's mom, prepared the perogies by frying up some bacon and onion (expertly cut by Alex). We broke the wafer, a Polish tradition, before eating, wishing each person a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We ate the perogies, pizza bites and bacon-wrapped scallop and washed it down with wine. After tea and deserts it was time to open the presents. One by one the presents were opened and a few hours later, the Christmas Tree was barren of presents. Corbin loves his boxing gloves and shooting arcade. Jeremy liked the bowling set and alphabet magnets. Adam was excited about getting sports and dress socks (no, really, he was) and Tina was overwhelmed by books, DVDs and scrapbooking stuff. Babcia and Grandpa were trying to figure out how to get that DVD/VCR combo back home via the train. Just before going to bed, Corbin spread out some food for the Santa's reindeer, left a magic key so Santa could get into the house and put out some milk and cookies for Santa.

Getting Ready For Christmas

We have spent the last few days getting the house in tip-top shape for the holiday season. Essentially, we are cleaning the house for the eventual mess that will happen on Christmas Day. Every room has been dusted, vacuumed and tidied up. The house looks clean and tidy. That won't last for long.

Christmas In the Prettiest Town in Canada

We traveled up to Goderich Friday evening. Encountered some snow fall between the 401 and Bayfield - to be expected this time year. Arriving in at Chris and Lisa's house, we promptly unpacked the van and got a tour of the newly renovated and expanded Muggridge home. Chris and Lisa added a 2-storey extension with a full basement to their house. The extension contains the master bedroom complete with it's own bathroom and walk-in closet, a new kitchen and a fully functional rec room in the basement. The transition between new and old is flawless. The amount of floor area has doubled. The old kitchen is now the new office of Atomic North New Media (formerly located on the Square).

The kids opened their presents on Saturday and for the most part, they all played well and they all got along well. Corbin played with Teegan and Madigan's toys in the basement and a few games on the Playstation2. Jeremy did what Jeremy does best: play here there and everywhere. A few toys would make it out of the basement but when asked to take them downstairs, Jeremy would comply. Sleeping worked out well. All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend. Kudo's to Chris and Lisa on the expansion.

Christmas Newsletter Out

We have mailed out our annual Christmas Wastebasket Newsletter and it should be arriving in your mailbox shortly. If it doesn't, let us know, we will gladly mail one out, or, if you are technologically advanced, we can email you a PDF version. Only 8 more days to Christmas Eve, 9 more days to Christmas Day and 16 days to the New Year.

Kids Holiday Party

We attended the Kids Holiday Party organized for City employees. The party was held at the Cleary International Centre. Tina dressed the boys up in cute matching outfits. We arrived early and staked our claim at a table near the stage. Eventually we were joined by Mike Cooke and his family.
There was lots for the kids to do: eat, make gingerbread cookies (complete with icing and sprinkles), different kinds of crafts, facepainting, and running on the dance floor. Beebo, a childrens performer, kept the crowd busy. Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrived by fire truck - which Corbin had been waiting for and he had a great view from his spot at the window. The kids got books as gifts, which, seemed to fit their personality and likes. The event was well organized and well attended.